The psychopathology of everyday art: a quantitative Study - World ...

the content of which was seemingly dependent on the pathological depths of the patient,
and the more contact the patient had, the more the need to draw diminished 32 . Among
other influential case studies was that of a woman who could draw but not speak about
her painful emotional experiences, by the Australian psychiatrist, Meares 33 , and another
by Jungian psychiatrist, Baynes 34 , paralleling the clinical techniques of therapeutic art
practice in the 1940-50s. Recent traditional psychoanalytic works have not departed
from this type of careful in-depth study 35 and there is further promise of development
from new theoretical structures, such as from the writings of Lacan 36 .
The overriding agreement in all serious psychoanalytic writing is that it is time-
consuming, particularly in the development of a relationship, and there can be few
immediate results, but this important qualification is disregarded by many art therapy
perspectives of these techniques 37 , another qualification from psychoanalytic literature,
32 An observation which has generally been ignored by her later followers.
33
Ainslie Meares (1958), The Door of Serenity .
34
H. G. Baynes (1940), Mythology of the Soul London: Tindall Cox.
35
A recent example is the 20 year analysis of a female patient "recovering a hidden artistic talent" and the
discussion of theories arising from the paintings; Margaret I. Little (1997), Miss Alice M. and her Dragon ,
New York: Binghampton.
36 Lacan's esoteric ideas have made a massive impact on most aspects of psychoanalysis, especially his
reinterpretations of Freud. When it is possible to assess how Lacan's later view of the image, as a separate
category, fits in with his theory of signifiers, it may offer much to the study of psychopathology through
systems other than language, J. Lacan (1988) The Topic of the Imaginary, in J.A. Miller (ed.), The
Seminar of Jacques Lacan , Book 1 (trans. Forrester), Cambridge U.P.; Bruce Fink (1995), The Lacanian
Subject , Oxford: Princeton U.P.
37 see these examples from collected essays edited by well-respected art-therapy authors and lecturers (who
do not expound these views themselves): Sheila McClelland (1992), Brief Art Therapy in Acute States:
a process oriented approach, in Waller and Gilroy op.cit., pp.189-207, The author claims to draw on the
work of Dr. Mindell on process science and psychological interventions in psychiatry and the personal
construct work of G.A. Kelly (1955). She interprets many of the typical features of work presented by
psychotic and neurotic referrals and recommends 1. rapid establishment of rapport, 2. maintaining a focus,
3. Active assertive therapist style and 4. anticipating the ending, but qualifies that considerable training
is needed. This method is described as "a minimal intervention as it aims to draw forth what is already
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